MATRIARCHY IN EARLY GREECE: THE BRONZE AND DARK AGES

Author(s): C. G. Thomas
Source: Arethusa , Fall 1973, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Fall 1973), pp. 173-195
Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26307431

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 MATRIARCHY IN EARLY GREECE: THE BRONZE AND
DARK AGES

C. G. Thomas

τ„he marriage of Zeus and Hera is generally viewed as symbolizing

the fusion of the Indo-European culture of the Greeks with the Aegean
culture of the pre-Greek inhabitants of the mainland. While the primary
thrust of this symbol concerns the development of Classical Greek
religion,1 it has been used to demonstrate the predominance of matri
archal culture during the Bronze Age and into the Dark Age of Greek
history: Minoan Crete, viewed as matriarchal, is thought to have
exerted its cultural dominance over Mycenaean Greece, influencing
all aspects of life including the position of women.2 Vestiges of that
influence have been found in the Homeric epic tradition of the Dark
Age. An examination of the evidence, however, suggests that this
interpretation must be revised.
I found immediately that it was not a simple matter to give a
definition of matriarchy for there is little agreement on characteristics
deemed to be absolutely necessary before a culture can be described
as matriarchal. It seemed best, initially, to define the term in its most
strict sense as the rule of women, emphasizing the political role of
women in society.3 This does not mean that women necessarily rule
outright but, rather, that the right to rule lies in their hands.
Use of this definition imposed rigid limitations on the study of
early Greek society, however. Indeed, an attempt to define any society
as purely matriarchal or patriarchal would appeal· to be a fruitless
venture.4 Rather than search for the political domination of women, it
seemed wiser to examine those foundations which both supported and
mirrored the position of women in early Greece. Thus, in addition to
an investigation of the political role of women, I have expanded the
definition of matriarchy to include three other aspects of societal
organization, namely the economic, social and religious institutions of
the culture. A matriarchal society can be defined as one in which
women enjoy recognizable economic, social and religious privileges
which, in sum, give them greater authority than men.
To assess the economic rights of women, we shall look for
conditions in which ownership and inheritance of property is through

173

Arethusa Vol. 6 (1973) 2

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 174 C. G. Thomas

the mother; in pure

form, from mothe
women will be exh
women. To the hist
in the records of t
written, than they
status. Finally, th
religious practices
here, following H
a definition of that
While we will em
social institutions
tendencies will be revealed in more subtle forms. First, descent may
be traced through the mother rather than the father.6 Second, matrilocal
residence may reflect matriarchy. And, third, the avuneulate, that is
the vesting of matrilineal authority in the hands of the mother's brother,
may point to the presence of matriarchal features in a given culture.
We will look for the existence of all these institutions, understanding,
however, that they are not crucial to the definition. While both of the
latter practices point to the prominence of the maternal side of a
family, it has been estimated that matrilocal residence occurs in only
approximately ten percent of the societies where matrilineal descent
is the rule and that "There is only a slightly greater probability for
the avuneulate to be coupled with matronymy than with patronymy."7
Consequently, in our examination into the question of the exist
ence of a matriarchal society in early Greece we shall concentrate on
three factors: first, can and do women possess the right of ownership
of property; second, do women play a major role in the religious world
view of the society; third, do women enjoy a privileged social status?
There are three cultures that will fall within our purview. We will
treat as distinct entities the civilizations of the Bronze Age on Crete
and on the mainland. This is not to deny the great significance of the
interaction between the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations; rather it
is meant to emphasize the underlying differences between the culture
of the early Greeks of the mainland and the non-Greeks of Crete. We
shall consider the Minoan culture between ca. 2000 and 1450 B.C.,
that is the Palace Age to the time of the arrival of Greeks at Knossos.
Mycenaean civilization can be equated with the Late Bronze Age or
ca. 1580 to 1150 B.C.

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 175

The third culture under consideration is that of Greece during

the Dark Age. Certainly it must be admitted that there was not uni
formity of culture in all areas of the Greek world during the four
centuries of the Dark Age, ca. 1150 to 750 B.C. Just the reverse is
true for the first century or more of the period. Furthermore, it was
toward the end of the period that the independent city-states began to
crystallize throughout the Aegean region. However, it was in the
eighth century that intercommunication between most parts of Greece
was re-established. The spread of ideas and products from one area
to another promoted a growing uniformity and, by the mid-eighth cen
tury, it is possible to see that Greece was "moving forward as a
whole."*

MINOAN CRETE

Minoan women figure prominently in two of the three areas of

our definition of matriarchy. First, they are represented frequently in
all categories of artifacts with the exception of painted pottery where
human representation of any sort is unusual. As we shall see, both
the manner of depiction as well as the situations implied in the rep
resentations suggest a social prominence and degree of freedom
possessed by Cretan women during the Bronze Age.
Equally clear is their significance in the religious life of Minoan
society. Not only are women shown in conspicuous roles at religious
ceremonies, but also it appears virtually certain that Minoan religion
centered around the worship of a supreme mother-goddess.
The third portion of our definition deals with the ownership of
property and it is in this area that we can make no final judgment
about Minoan practices. Property rights are not revealed in artifacts
and we must speculate on the basis of survivals in later periods of
Cretan history.9
Let us turn, first, to the social position of Minoan women as
suggested by pictorial representations and by the architecture of the
palaces. Frescoes provide probably the fullest picture of Minoan life
and surviving fragments include: the lifesize figures on the walls of the
Corridor of the Procession at Knossos; the less-than-lifesize dancing
girl from the Queen's Megaron at Knossos; the "Camp-stool" fresco
including the so-called Parisienne from Knossos; the miniature "Sacred
Grove and the Dance"; the "Grandstand" fresco; a lady kneeling in a

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 176 C. G. Thomas

bed of flowers fro

the west porch at
We may mention,
of the "court attir
ingeniously contr
That Minoan women were depicted as lovely adds nothing to our
argument since emphasis on a woman's physical beauty may serve to
indicate an inferior social position. It may be more important to ob
serve that, on several frescoes, men are treated in a summary fashion
while the women are represented more carefully.12
Far more significant for the present discussion is the nature of
the occasions in which Minoan women are represented. While all the
above mentioned frescoes may have religious import, the Procession
Fresco certainly represents a ceremonial occasion. It is safe to say,
simply, that the occasion required the presence of women participants.13
The painting depicting the dance in an olive grove and that showing
the lone dancer may also have religious significance, being examples
of individuals engaged in ecstatic dancing.14 On the other hand, a
closer parallel may be with the lady in a bed of flowers from Hagia
Triadha, that is, an individual shown in her natural surroundings.
Unfortunately, the subjects of the Camp-stool and Grandstand
frescoes cannot be ascertained but we may not be too far wrong in
suggesting an analogy with Athenian dramatic performances. For
Minoan Crete there can be no question, as there is for Classical
Athens,15 that women could and did attend public performances.
Finally, we must consider the bull-leaping fresco which shows
three individuals in the stages of vaulting over the back of a bull. The
convention of using dark paint for the skin of men and light paint for
that of women indicates that two of the participants are women and
one is a man. In addition to pointing out, once again, the religious
role of Minoan women, the bull-leaping fresco tells us that the physical
training necessary for this event included both men and women.
Turning to an examination of the frescoes in their architectural
context, the picture of the social independence of Minoan women
gains further support. In the first place, frescoes depicting women are
not confined to the residential quarters of the palaces; more specifi
cally, they are not found only in the areas known as the "Halls of the
Queen." The bull-leaping scene, for example, was located at the north
end of the Central Court at Knossos.

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 177

Nor does it appear that women were secluded in the daily life
of the palaces.16 While the residential quarters of the palaces were
situated away from the public areas, this was done for reasons of
comfort and seclusion.17 The normal features of the royal suites in
cluded a "Men's Hall," a "Queen's Hall," a light well, a bathroom,
a veranda opening onto a terrace and a staircase leading to sleeping
rooms on the upper storey.
These areas are physically separated from one another and have
a marked individual identity. Still, the rooms are connected with cor
ridors and doors, an arrangement which suggests "... easy communi
cation and at the same time a degree of independence."18 Indeed,
Platon has described the Hall of the Cistern in the residential quarter
of the palace of Zakro as either the main living room of the royal
family or the formal throne room.19 Perhaps it served both purposes.
At any rate, Oriental seclusion of the fair sex seems not to have been
a feature of the Minoan palace construction.
It appears to be entirely probable that the high social position
held by Minoan women which we see reflected in the art and architec
ture was due to the Minoan religious view. A single great goddess — a
mother goddess and nature deity — appears to have been worshipped un
der various aspects.20 Representations of female goddesses appear on
all classes of artifacts, especially seals and rings and small statues,
where the deity is most frequently depicted as "Lady of the Beasts,"
the snake or household goddess and the nature goddess associated
with the symbols of the double axe and the dove.21
Women figure not only as divinities but in an equally high
position as celebrants. We have noted the role of women in religious
celebrations as revealed by the frescoes. Female votary statues have
been found in large quantities while the sarcophagus from Hagia
Triadha shows men and women making sacrificial offerings to two
women, who must be goddesses, in a chariot drawn by griffins.23 As
on the frescoes, women are depicted in what may be ecstatic dance on
a gold ring from Isopata.24
Finally, we may mention the legends of Classical Greece which
centered on female heroines. Britomartis, Dictynna, Ariadne and
Europa may well have been names for Minoan goddesses whose status
declined to that of heroines during the course of the Dark Age when
the Olympican gods rose to prominence even in the still largely non
Hellenic island of Crete.

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 178 C. G. Thomas

The role of women

argues persuasively for a matriarchal society in the Bronze Age. Is
this argument supported by indications that women possessed property
rights?

For an understanding of Cretan property rights we are forced to

deal almost entirely with evidence from the post-Bronze Age. Pro
visions relating to the heiress in the Law Code of Gortyn have been
interpreted as reflecting an earlier period when the laws of inheritance
were based on the principle of female succession.25 Indeed, it has
been speculated that the greatest degree of preservation of matrilineal
regulations occurs among the serfs who were still ruled, in large
measure, by the "laws of Minos."
Generally, the Code reveals that women controlled their in
dividual property. In the event of divorce or death in a marriage, the
wife retained control over her own property and shared half of the
produce from the joint property. In the event of a mother's death, the
father administered the property for his children but could not dispose
of that property and, if he remarried, he lost the right of administration.
Furthermore, it is clear that daughters could inherit. While an heiress,
if she were of age, was required to marry a paternal uncle, she might
select a husband from another tribe if no groom-elect presented himself.
By forfeiting her inheritance, she could marry anyone within the tribe
she chose.

There are traces of both the avunculate and a matrilocal charac

ter of marriage in the Gortyn Code. The avunculate is shown in the
provision that a motherless heiress was to be raised by her maternal
uncles. At the same time, however, her property was to be administered
by her paternal uncles. The matrilocal character of marriage can be
seen in the listing of fines for rape and adultery where the woman's
paternal home is mentioned first, then her brother's home and, last,
her husband's home.

The evidence is not unequivocal, however. It may be true that

the Gortyn Code preserves traces of an earlier period when women
exercised property rights. On the other hand, it may be the case that
Cretan law was only just becoming less restrictive during the Archaic
and Early Classical periods. The arguments of Willetts for the former
view are persuasive, nevertheless: the matriarchal elements noted
above appear to be losing ground to the principle of male succession.

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 179

In concluding our examination of Minoan culture, it is possible

to say that all three elements of a matriarchal society are visible.
Cretan women enjoyed a high social status and figured prominently in
the daily life of the palaces. This prominence may have been due to
the supreme importance of female deities during the Minoan Bronze
Age: there can be little doubt that worship of a mother goddess was
the keystone of Minoan religion and that women played a major role
in her worship. Perhaps it was due to the religious world view that
Cretan ladies exercised property rights during the Bronze Age. As we
have seen, surviving elements in the Gortyn Law Code point to matri
lineal property rights which are in the process of being superseded but
have not yet been replaced by patrilineal dominance.

MYCENAEAN GREECE

Evidence for mainland Greece during the Late Bronze Age

permits us to examine all three aspects of our definition of a matri
archal society. As for Minoan Crete, painted representations and the
architecture of the palaces can be used to indicate the social and
religious roles of women. In addition to artifacts, we have the evidence
of the Linear Β tablets which provide further insights into the social
and religious aspects of society and, moreover, give some understand
ing of the economic basis of Mycenaean life. Using these data, let us
consider, first, the social status of women as implied especially in
the art and architecture; their religious position as suggested by
written and non-written evidence; and, finally, ownership of property
as revealed in the tablets.

The art of fresco painting was practiced on the mainland as well

as on Crete during the Bronze Age. While the technique may have been
borrowed directly from Minoan artisans, there are stylistic differences
between the frescoes of the mainland and those found on Crete.26
Mainland frescoes which supply information about the role of Mycenaean
women include Procession Erescoes from Thebes, Tiryns and Pylos;
two Ladies in a Chariot from Tiryns; Women carrying Pyxides from
Mycenae; and women watching a battle from window apertures from
Mycenae.27
The subject matter of the frescoes falls into two distinct cate
gories. First, there are the procession scenes which correspond to
scenes from Cretan frescoes. This is not to say that such processions

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 180 C. G. Thomas

did not occur on th

Rather, as we shall see, these representations point to a borrowed
tradition which was not fully integrated with Mycenaean customs. The
second group depicts scenes of warfare and hunting where women are
shown as onlookers rather than participants.28 While such frescoes do
not suggest Oriental seclusion of Mycenaean women, neither do they
indicate the degree of social freedom enjoyed by Minoan women.
Moreover, the war-like nature of Mycenaean civilization, which is
revealed in every category of the surviving evidence,29 suggests that
male leadership was vital for the mere preservation of the various
kingdoms. Official positions rested entirely in the hands of men.30
Palace construction is less informative for the mainland than
it is for Crete for "there is very little evidence to indicate with
certainty the exact function of each part of the palace."31 More specifi
cally, the identification of certain areas as women's halls is generally
a matter of personal inference. Nevertheless, there are rooms which
have been termed women's or queens' halls in the palaces of Pylos,
Mycenae and Tiryns.32 The megaron identified as the queen's hall at
Pylos is situated in the southwestern area of the palace and is quite
distinct from the public parts of the palace. The two areas at Mycenae
known as the domestic quarters show the same physical separation
from the central megaron. One complex is located on a higher slope
of the hill to the north of the main palace while the second area,
immediately to the northeast of the main megaron, is physically sepa
rated from the megaron by a solid wall. A small megaron at Tiryns has
been defined as the queen's hall. It is to the east of the main unit and
is separated from it by a winding corridor.
The evidence is inconclusive. It is impossible to determine
whether women were largely confined to relatively inaccessible parts
of the palace or, as in the Minoan palaces, the architecture shows
"a nice respect for the privacy of the fair sex, as well as a due ap
preciation of their society."33
Mycenaean religion appears to have been an unstirred blend of
Cretan and mainland views and practices. On the one hand, there is
little reason to doubt that the earliest Hellenes brought with them to
the mainland the name and concept of Zeus, the supreme god.34 On the
other hand, representations of deities as well as of religious ceremo
nies parallel closely representations from Minoan Crete. Rings, gems,
terracotta statuary and frescoes where goddesses and female worshipers

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 181

figure prominently indicate clearly that a mother goddess was actua

worshiped on the mainland as she was on Crete.35 Cult ceremoni
too, reveal the belief in a great goddess. Pylos tablets give occasions
when offerings were made to recipients such as the Potnia goddess
the two Queens and the Divine Mother. Offerings were made at the
Season of New Wine, the Spreading of the Couch and the Bringi
Forth of the Throne, all of which accord with celebrations honoring
mother goddess in other cultures.36

What, then, is the new element in Mycenaean religion? First, w

should mention the greater prominence of male deities. Recognizab
on the Pylos tablets are gods familiar from later Greek religion: Zeu
Poseidon, Ares, Hermes and Dionysos. While Ares, Hermes and
Dionysos do not appear in conspicuous roles, Poseidon figures promi
nently both at Pylos and Knossos.37 The name Zeus is clearly read on
one tablet and may be implied in several more obscure contexts.38
Moreover, it has been suggested that the bearded head from Asine is
the first authentic representation of Zeus.39
Second, men as well as women serve as functionaries of the
gods. It is not the case that all female deities have female priestesses
and that all male deities are served by men.40 Even more significant,
perhaps, is the fact that men who held official positions in the My
cenaean kingdoms probably combined religious duties with other
functions. The Telestai, for instance, are variously described as
fief-holders and religious officials.41 Furthermore, it may very well be
that the Mycenaean king, or wanax, himself performed special religious
ceremonies.42 While we need not argue that the kings acted as chief
or high priests, the association of shrines with the palaces leads to
the conclusion that certain religious functions were the responsibility
of the kings.

There is a third quality of Mycenaean religion which suggests

a difference from the beliefs of the Minoan world.43 A modern scholar
has concluded that:

... the cult apparatus of the Minoans seems lifeless when

it is borrowed on the mainland, because it is not integrated
in the mainland tradition.44

The conclusion appears to be sound. The Mycenaean Greeks were

greatly influenced by Minoan religious ceremony and they borrowed
trappings and, probably, types of priestly associations. While the

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 182 C. G. Thomas

imported rituals be
not have the power to submerge the original religious views and
practices of the earliest Hellenes. In effect, a dual religious practice
evolved over the course of the Late Helladic period. More specifically,
a religious conception of life based on the supremacy of a male god,
Zeus, existed in uneasy balance with borrowed practices which empha
sized the importance of a great mother goddess. We see this balance
in the pairing with Zeus and Poseidon of female deities in what has
been described as the "quite classical manner."45 Patriarchal elements
were of at least equal importance as matriarchal concepts in the
religion of the Late Bronze Age mainland.
The Linear Β tablets allow us to examine the third aspect of
our definition, namely property rights. Indeed, such a high proportion
of the tablets concerns property that it is possible to conclude that a
system of land tenure was one of the bases of Mycenaean overlordship
in the Late Bronze Age. Precise definitions of types of land obliga
tions or land use are impossible to give; still, the tablets detail
various individuals or classes who possessed rights to certain plots
of land. For our present purposes, one of the tablets will be quoted
at length:

2. Huamia, servant (f.) of the god, and she holds as a

lease a geras of the priestess; so much seed: 18 1.
wheat,

3. Eritha the priestess holds the lease of a communal

plot from the village; so much seed: 48 1. wheat,
4. The k.-women hold the lease of a communal plot from
village, so much seed: 228 1. wheat,

5. Eritha the priestess holds (this), and she claims that

(her) god holds the freehold; but the village says that
he/she (merely?) holds the lease of communal plots;
so much seed: 468 1. wheat,

6. Karpathia the key-bearer (f.) holds two (?) communal

(plots); although under an obligation to perform with the
two, she does not perform; so much seed: χ 1. wheat.46

Clearly, women have some form of property rights. However, the

tablets do not describe inheritance of property from one individual to
another. Rather, they speak of use of land under certain conditions

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 183

and obligations. Moreover, the obligation described in the above tablet

appears to have been a religious one: the individuals named are
religious functionaries, that is servant of the god, priestess and key
bearer, which appears to be a religious title.47
The normal pattern of land use can be seen in Tablets 114=
En02 and 115=En03. First, land defined as the private plot of someone
is listed. Then follows a discussion of tenants, both male and female.
In 114, for example, two private plots are mentioned and eleven tenants
are listed. Of the tenants, six are men and five are women. While the
men are defined in a variety of ways - king's artificer, fief-holder and
servant of the god — four of the women are servants of the god and
one is a priestess. Tablet 115 discusses three private plots and lists
sixteen tenants. Of these, six are women and all six are servants of
the god. The same pattern is followed throughout the Ε-series tablets
from Pylos and we can conclude that women held property only in
their capacity of religious functionaries.
In conclusion, then, the three characteristics of a matriarchal
society do not seem to be met in the Mycenaean Greek civilization.
While the evidence for the social status of women is ambivalent,
Mycenaean women are not as prominent in surviving artifacts as they
are in Minoan Crete. The religion of the first Hellenes shows patri
archal elements as well as matriarchal features and it may well be
that the concept of a supreme mother-goddess was borrowed and not
thoroughly integrated into Mycenaean belief and practice. Finally, the
property rights of women appear to be confined to use of land for
religious purposes; the tablets suggest male dominance in the actual
ownership of land.

DARK AGE GREECE

Turning to the third society under consideration, we might

expect to see a double-stream cultural tradition surviving from the
Mycenaean Greeks, on the one hand, and the non-Greek population of
the Bronze Age Aegean area. While the Minoan inheritance is clear to
see, it appears to remain stronger in Crete, as one would expect.48
Moreover, although non-Hellenic elements are visible in various
aspects of life,49 Minoan influence retained its greatest vitality in the
sphere of religion. Let us consider, however, the specific question of
the existence of matriarchal elements in the Greek world of the Dark
Age.

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 184 c. G. Thomas

To understand the na
sources of information
inference based on kn
the Homeric epics. Few scholars object to the use of the first two
sources; many doubt that the epics can be used as evidence for Dark
Age culture. It is true that the Iliad and Odyssey are poems and that
their function is poetic. Yet, there is a societal background to the
epics: men fight, pray, eat, earn a livelihood, lead other men, fashion
boats, die and are buried in a certain manner. This background, al
though not composed as a source of information, is a source of informa
tion for us. The period which is thus indirectly described does not
reveal the institutional framework of the Mycenaean Age nor does it
depict the Archaic period of Greek history. Rather, the evidence
points to the time span between the two, or the Dark Age. Without
being more specific with respect to the exact period of reference of
the poems, we shall utilize the background provided by them as evi
dence for the nature of Greek society after the collapse of the My
cenaean civilization.

The world of the gods is painted in bright colors by the epic

bard and there can be no doubt that Zeus has won his contests with
earlier deities. Zeus is not only the supreme god but is also regarded
as the father of the Olympian family of deities. To be sure, there are
traces of pre-Greek elements in Homeric religion. Athena's connection
with the citadel of Erechtheus, for instance, may link her with the
Bronze Age household deity (II. 2.546-551).50 Homeric epithets for the
gods seem to reflect an earlier concept of deity.51 Moreover, the two
views of the afterlife revealed in the poems may be explained as the
survival of two different religious traditions.52 Still, Zeus does hold
sway. Female deities, while extremely important in the pantheon, are
depicted in a subordinate position to Zeus.53
We must ask, however, whether the Homeric gods are representa
tive of the true religious views of the Greeks of the Dark Age. Perhaps
the mysteries, where the role of female deities retained more of its
vitality, fulfilled the deepest religious needs of the Greeks. Surely
the importance of the mystery cults must not be discounted. On the
other hand, the force of the Homeric gods is overpowering in all
aspects of Greek life from the end of the Dark Age throughout the
Classical period. As Snell has stated:
In their persons the Olympians σ

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 185

all that is great and vital in this world. Nothing is con

cealed; all the forces operating in body and mind are
drawn into the portrait of the gods.54

We will conclude, then, that the patriarchal family of gods depicted

by Homer embodies the true religion of the Greeks.

This is not to say that women were unimportant in religious

ceremonies. Women serve as priestesses in the epics, as does Theano
"whom the Trojans had established to be Athena's priestess" (II.
6.300). More frequently, however, men serve the gods: Chryses is
priest of Apollo (II. 1.11) and it is men like Nestor and Menelaos and
Alcinous who make offerings to the gods (Nestor: Od. 3.40-42; Menelaos:
Od. 5.147-149; Alcinous: Od. 7.179-181; Telemachus: Od. 15.136-138).
The examples cited suggest that, while religious ceremonies could be
communal affairs (Od. 3.4-8, 20. 276-278, 21.258-259), much of the
ritual feasting and sacrificing was carried on within the household.
The examples indicate, further, that it was the head of the household
or oikos who directed the ritual.

Let us turn to the oikos since it will figure significantly in the

remaining two aspects of life to be examined. The bonds of kinship
and, more especially, the bonds of the immediate family permeate the
epic poetry. Indeed, it has been shown that the emerging political
community draws many of its features from the family.55 In the first
place, property rights center on the oikos. Private ownership is the
basis of land tenure in the poems;56 that this was the case historically
as well as in the world of the epics is confirmed by the Works and
Days of Hesiod. Hesiod's quarrel with his brother, Perses, arose over
rights of inheritance to their father's property.57 It is quite clear that
the laws of inheritance were based on the principle of male succession.
But what of Penelope and her rather unique position in the
Odyssey? Are the suitors intent on marrying her because kingship
"goes with the hand of the queen"58 or because Penelope enjoys
matriarchal property rights? It is true that she brought a dowry with
her when she married Odysseus (Od. 4.735-737); it is equally true that
Odysseus' estate comprises more than his wife's dowry. Indeed, when
Eurymachus proposes that Penelope be sent home to her father's
house, he indicates that her father will provide a dowry for her second
marriage (Od. 2.195-197). Furthermore, there is no question that
Telemachus has lawful right to his father's property:

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186 C. G. Thomas

Telemachos, the gods must of course decide who is

to be our king in sea-girt Ithaca. But by all means keep
your own belongings and rule your own house. God forbid
that anyone should come and lay violent hands on your
property, as long as Ithaca has people in it. (Od. 1.400
404, Rieu tr.)

If not in the realm of property rights, perhaps the position of

queens such as Penelope and Arete shows vestiges of a matriarchal
society in other areas of life. Does the hand of Penelope give the right
to kingship of Ithaca? Does Arete rule conjointly with her husband
uncle? First, what is the situation in Ithaca?
It appears impossible to conclude that kingship goes with
marriage to Penelope. Telemachus has not succeeded his father for
two reasons. It is not certain that Odysseus has died and, more im
portantly, Telemachus has not yet proven himself capable of ruling.
The epics reveal a world in which the right to rule is essentially a
matter of personal strength: a king must be physically strong and
mentally astute and must exhibit these characteristics both in time of
peace and war. His ability is revealed concretely through his posses
sions: when a man is capable of holding and increasing his own goods,
he will be judged able to guard the communal property. Furthermore,
it was by his competence that a man won the allegiance of others.
Although the epics show that inheritance played some part in deter
mining a man's status, still personal ability remained the decisive
factor in telling a man's worth.59 A major theme of the Odyssey is
the developing strength of Telemachus.
Penelope's decision to remarry would benefit her second husband
only indirectly: her remarriage would spell the dissolution of the
royal oikos of Ithaca and she would take to her second marriage a
share of her royal prestige. Furthermore, since inheritance is only
just becoming a factor in determination of leadership, Telemachus
will not succeed his father until he has demonstrated his ability to
lead men. If Penelope were to remarry before Telemachus had shown
this ability, he would find himself bereft of the one remaining link
with his oikos, the royal household of Ithaca. Then, like Orestes, he
would be forced to bide his time until he was physically capable of
assuming the kingship.
And what is the position of Arete? To be sure, she enjoys
"extraordinary and heartfelt devotion ... both from her children and

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 187

Alcinous himself, and from the people ...(Od. 7.69-72, Rieu tr.)
Does she hold this respect because Alcinous is her brother (Od. 7.54
55)? The lines are ambiguous since later Alcinous is described as
her uncle (Od. 7.56-66) and even Thomson was forced to admit:

A pedigree conforming to the familiar and respectable

law of the heiress has been invented as an alternative to
the rule of matriarchal endogamy, which the Greek poets
did not understand and did not wish to understand.60

Furthermore, Arete is respected not only because she is the queen

but because she is considered wise (Od. 7.73). The patriarchal nature
of Homeric society did not mean that women were not respected.
There remains one final aspect of society to consider, namely,
the social status of women in Dark Age Greece. We have seen that
women like Penelope and Arete are honored by the people. Still we
might note two pronouncements in the Odyssey. When Penelope makes
her appearance in Book Eighteen, the suitors'

...hearts were melted by desire, and every man among

them prayed that he might hold her in his arms. (Od. 18.
212-213, Rieu tr.)

The reason for this desire is not that Penelope's hand bestows the
kingship but rather, as Eurymachus says:

Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, if all the Achaeans

in Ionian Argos could set eyes on you, these walls of
yours would see an even greater gathering of lovers at
to-morrow's feast, for in beauty, stature, and sense there
is not a woman to touch you. (Od. 18.245-249, Rieu tr.)

Quite simply, Penelope is desireable for her femininity. Her beauty

and wisdom do not grant her social freedom, however. Just before the
stringing of the bow, Telemachus tells his mother:

So go to your quarters now and attend to your own work,

the loom and the spindle, and see that the servants get on
with theirs. The bow is the men's concern, and mine above
all; for I am master in this house. (Od. 21.350-353, Rieu tr.)

To be sure, Penelope is told to leave because the slaughter of the

suitors is soon to begin. Moreover, the epic bard is indicating that
Telemachus has come of age and is able to assert his own position

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 188 C. G. Thomas

within the household. Still, it remains that Penelope is told to go to

her own quarters and she does withdraw.
Finally, it is not unusual to find that Homeric women are veiled
and are accompanied by their maids (Penelope: Od. 1.331-335; Helen:
II. 3.141). And we must remember that Nausicaa sleeps behind closed
doors with a maid on either side of the entrance. There seem to be no
traces of matriarchal customs in the position of the Phaeacian princess,
although it has been suggested that the participation of three of
Nausicaa's brothers in the games implies that brother-sister marriage
was customary among the Phaeacians.61 Specifically, it is the foot
race that is interpreted as a contest for the bride and Odysseus does
withdraw from this contest (Od. 8.230-233). The reason is not that
Nausicaa's brother Klytoneus is her destined husband but rather that
Odysseus does not wish to compete against the son of his host. He
states this in straightforward terms with respect to Laodamas, another
of Alcinous' sons:

And since you have thoroughly roused me, come out, if

any of you fancy the idea and have the pluck, come out
and take me on — at boxing, wrestling, or even running. I
don't care which. Laodamas, whose guest I am, is the only
one among you all whom I except, for who would fight his
host? A man must be out of his senses or an utter fool to
challenge the friend who is entertaining him in a strange
country. He would only wreck his own prospects by doing
so. (Od. 8.207-11, Rieu tr.)

Odysseus is concerned with his relations to his host, Alcinous, and

the sons of his host. It is a safe inference that Laodamas is the
eldest of Alcinous' unmarried sons and, hence, is named by Odysseus.
Hesiod's world shows a similar situation in which the immediate
family is the focal point of daily life. Certainly, ties of blood are not
the only important bonds linking individuals: "An evil neighbor is a
bane, a good one is a great blessing daily" (346). Still, inheritance of
property, religious practices, economic well-being all center on the
oikos. It must be admitted that the woman's role in such a household
is not one of social freedom. Nor does Hesiod have many words of
respect for women. It was Pandora who loosed all the evils upon man
kind and one must always be wary that:

... a woman with trailing robes ... turn your wits, chattering

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 189

her wheedling words, while she is merely seeking your

wealth. He who has been persuaded by a woman has been
duped by a deceiver. (Works and Days 373ff.)
We are a long way from a matriarchal society. In fact, Dark Age Greece
is almost completely a patriarchal culture. Society is centered on the
oikos which is controlled by the pater familias and ownership of
property is vested in the male members of the household as are many
familial religious functions. Indeed, the Olympian family mirrors the
earthly patriarchal family with Zeus as father, husband and king.
Finally, we have seen that both the epic tradition and the artifacts
suggest that women have less social freedom than they would have
in a matriarchal society.

What can we conclude about matriarchy in early Greece? While

Minoan society shows clear matriarchal characteristics, Dark Age
Greece appears to be a patriarchal world. Mycenaean Greece reveals
both patriarchal and matriarchal elements although the former tend to
be dominant. Such a picture is by no means inconsistent with the
historical development of Greece from the end of the third millennium,
when the first Hellenes moved onto the mainland, to the close of the
Dark Age at the end of the eighth century B.C.

The Greeks seem to have entered the mainland in bands, prob

ably tribal groupings, whose cohesion was based upon ties of kinship.
Leadership was determined, it would appear, by "the need of an
organization for the wanderings and military expeditions,"62 that is,
vested in the males of the tribe capable of fighting. Since the entering
Indo-Europeans were migratory, property would consist of movable
rather than landed wealth and rights to such wealth would depend, in
large measure, upon the military organization of the tribe. In other
words, ownership of property would belong to the male members of the
society. With respect to religion, we have seen that the first Hellenes
appear to have brought with them the concept of a supreme male deity,
Zeus.

The Greek mainland was inhabited before the arrival of the

Indo-Europeans by people of Anatolian stock.63 The Middle Helladic
period witnessed the growth of local kingdoms with local lords, pre
sumably Indo-Europeans, subduing as well as mingling with the non
Greek population in individual regions. The same period saw the
beginning of contacts with Minoan Crete whose population was of

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 190 C. G. Thomas

Anatolian stock. The extent of Minoan cultural influence can be seen

in almost all categories of artifacts.64
Not only was there cultural influence from the Anatolian popula
tion of Crete and the mainland. With the process of settlement and
control over increasingly larger segments of the population came the
need for an organized system of administration. During the Late
Helladic period, the requirement of control was met by the elaboration
of an administrative system which may have been modelled, at least
in large part, on the organization of Minoan Crete. Borrowed elements
may well have included matriarchal features.
It must be concluded, however, that Minoan features did not
eradicate the earlier Indo-European character of culture on the main
land. First, it has been suggested that the most complete adaptation of
Minoan organization by the Mycenaeans occurred at Knossos under
Greek control and at Pylos.65 Since these two places were ruled by
newly-arrived conquerors, there was a need for tighter control over the
populations of the kingdoms than there was at Mycenae, Athens,
Thebes and Tiryns where the dynasties, according to tradition, were
long established. Second, it is possible to see the continuation of
certain features which differ markedly from Minoan society. The role
of the Mycenaean wanax is a good case in point: he was not a priest
king as the Minoan ruler appears to have been and military strength
was certainly a key to kingly power on the mainland, which it was not
in Minoan Crete. Finally, the Dark Age shows a world in which Minoan
characteristics are gradually lost, except of course on Crete where
certain Minoan features retain their vitality.
Returning, then, to our consideration of matriarchy in early
Greece we can conclude that the culture of the first Hellenes was
patriarchal in nature. The Bronze Age Greeks were strongly influenced
by Minoan culture which can be defined as matriarchal. However,
matriarchal elements did not make a deep enough impression on the
Greek world to be incorporated into the workings of society in those
spheres which we have examined: religion, property rights and social
status. Consequently, Greece weathered and emerged from the Dark
Age as a patriarchal culture.

University of Washington

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 191
Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages

Notes

Describing the relationship of the pre-Greek Cretan Zeus to the mo

goddess as that of subordinate consort, Guthrie states: "The coming o
Greeks with their supreme male deity transformed this relationship i
solemn union of two great figures in which the male predominates, as
Zeus over his official spouse, the goddess Hera of Argos, and others."
W. K. C. Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of the Greeks," CAH II,
xl (Cambridge, 1964) 46.
"Behind the work of the humane poets who composed the Iliad and Odyssey
lies an age of brutality and violence, in which the bold pioneers of private
property had ransacked the opulent, hieratic, sophisticated civilization of
the Minoan matriarchate." George Thomson, Studies in Ancient Greek
Society: The Prehistoric Aegean (Third Ed., New York, 1965) 430.
It is quite possible to study the political position of women at various
points of time. Among the Khasis, for instance, the actual head of state
was a woman. See P. R. T. Gurdon, The Khasis (London, 1914).
"The optimum conditions for the survival of matriarchy would be a rapid
advance from food-gathering to agriculture. But these are the optimum
conditions for the development of civilization. The object of our search is
frustrated by the conditions necessary for its attainment. This explains
why so few examples of the matriarchate survive today. It lies buried
beneath the civilizations erected on it." Thomson, Studies in Ancient
Greek Society, 150f.
The Philosophy of History, tr. Sibree (Revised Ed., New York, 1944) 50.
Matrilineal descent, in itself, is not enough to characterize a society as
matriarchal. As Robert H. Lowie stated in more precise terminology,
matrilineal descent is a very different concept from a matrilineal complex.
"The Matrilineal Complex," University of California publications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology XVI (1919) 30.
Ibid., 42.
A. N. Snodgrass, The Dark Age of Greece (Edinburgh, 1971) 436.
See p. 178 f. for a discussion of the Code of Gortyn.
These frescoes are illustrated and discussed in Sir Arthur Evans, Palace
of Minos at Knossos (London, 1921-1935), hereafter cited as PM. Corridor of
the Procession, PM II, 719-757; Dancing Girl, PM III, 71, 209; Campstool,
PM IV pt. 2, 381-396; Sacred Grove and Dance, PM III, 67ff.; Grandstand,
PM III, 46-65; Lady in Flowerbed, PM I, 604f. and G. Rodenwaldt, Die
Kunst der Antike (Berlin, 1927) Pl. 110; Bull-leaping, PM III, 209-232.
Friedrich Matz, The Art of Crete and Early Greece (New York, 1962) 150
emphasizes as "particularly noteworthy" "The important part played by
women in social life."
Evans, PM III, 49.
If the Procession Fresco were our only evidence for the position of Minoan
women, we could give no answer. The subject is similar to that of the

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 192 C. G. Thomas

Parthenon frieze where Athenian maidens play a conspicuous role and

fifth century Athens was definitely not a matriarchal society.
14 Evans, PM III 69ff.
15 H. D. F. Kitto, The Greeks (Revised Ed., Penguin Books, 1969), refutes
quite successfully the notion of Oriental seclusion in Classical Athens.
I am not questioning his conclusions but rather am suggesting that the
evidence from Minoan Crete does not allow the problem to be raised in the
first place.
16 Describing the Hall of the Cistern at Zakro, N. Platon [Zakros (New York,
1971)] states: "The use of this hall as a women's abode of the type of an
Oriental harem is completely ruled out: there is no evidence for the pres
ence of a harem surrounding the monarch, and this, moreover, would be
incompatible with what is known about the Minoan social order." 254.
17 On the nature of the residential quarters see J. W. Graham, The Palaces of
Crete (Princeton, 1969) 84-93.
18 Platon, Zakros, 253.
19 Ibid., 185-191.
20
"The opinion may be ventured that a single goddess, essentially of the
Mountain Mother type and of universal appeal, was, if not unique, at least
predominant. She would be primarily a nature-goddess, fostering and con
trolling the animal and vegetable life of the earth, and regarded, at least
among the more backward sections of the population, as Mother Earth
personified. As such she would care, like the Greek Demeter, both for the
fruits of her fields and the souls of the dead who are buried within her."
Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of the Greeks," 18.
21 For a good summation of Minoan religion see R. W. Hutchinson, Prehistor
Crete (London, 1962) Ch. 8, "Minoan Religion," 199-231.
22 Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of the Greeks," 19.
23 Evans, PM I, 437-441; III, 39; IV, 43.
24 R. Higgins, Minoan and Mycenaean Art (New York, 1967), PI. 239.
25 For the following interpretation of the Gortyn Code see R. F. Willetts,
Aristocratic Society in Ancient Crete (London, 1955).
26 Higgins, Minoan and Mycenaean Art, 98, states, in straightforward terms:
"Mycenaean fresco-painting owed everything technically, and almost
everything stylistically, to Crete, but Mycenaean artists lacked the gay
and spontaneous quality of their masters, and adopted a more monumental
style." Such a conclusion reflects a strong belief in the superiority of
Minoan craftsmanship which has pursued Bronze Age studies since the
work of Sir Arthur Evans. Without judging superiority and inferiority, we
must certainly take note of the differing qualities of the two styles.
27 For the Tiryns frescoes see G. Rodenwaldt, Die Freshen des Palastes,
Tiryns II (1912); for Thebes: H. Reusch, Die Zeichnerische Rekonstruktion
des Frauenfrieses im bodtischen Theben (Abh. Berl. Akad., 1955, 1) 1956;
for Pylos: M. L. Lang, The Palace of Nestor at Pylos II: The Frescoes
(Princeton, 1969); for Mycenae: W. Lamb, BSA 24 (1919-1921) 189-199
and BSA 25 (1921-1923) 258.

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 193

G. Ε. Mylonas, Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age (Princeton, 1966), 202

argues that scenes of war and hunting "seem to characterize the Mycenaean
effort and taste, . . .
"From the end of the Middle Bronze Age, militarism was so congenial to
the mainland temperament that both its aesthetics and its technology
focused on the trained soldier with his equipment...." Emily Vermeule,
Greece in the Bronze Age (Chicago and London, 1964) 258.
M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek (Cambridge,
1959) 119-125.
Mylonas, Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age, 47.
See Mylonas, ibid., Ch. 3 "Mycenaean Palaces and Houses," 46-88. Plans:
Pylos, text fig. 13; Mycenae, text fig. 15; Tiryns, fig. 51.
Graham, The Palaces of Crete, 88.
"One central religious name and conception we can say with certainty
they [the earliest Hellenes] brought from the original Indo-European stock:
Zeus in the capacity of Father and Supreme god, and at the same time god
of the weather — Cloud-gatherer, Thunderer, Rain-bringer. This twofold
character, as patriarchal protector of the household, and controller of the
weather, was retained by Zeus not only in the Homeric poems but throughout
the pagan history of Greece." Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of
the Greeks," 8.
The importance of the cult of the great goddess is shown in the curious
fact "...that most of the famous gold rings with what is accepted as
Cretan religious iconography actually come from the mainland: Mycenae,
Tiryns, Dendra, Thebes, and Pylos." Vermeule, Greece in the Bronze Age,
289.

For the nature of the ceremonies in Bronze Age Greece see Vermeule,
ibid., 291-297. For parallels with cultures of the Ancient Near East see
E. A. James, The Ancient Gods (Capricorn Ed., New York, 1964) Ch. 5
"The Seasonal Festivals," 134-167.
The names Dionysos and Hermes are found only once on the tablets; the
word α-re appears on a Knossos tablet and may or may not be the divine
name. Enyalios, a later epithet for Ares, can be read on the list of divine
names. See Ventris and Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 126f.
Poseidon has been described as "The major god at Pylos" by Vermeule,
Greece in the Bronze Age, 295.
Ventris and Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 126 f.
M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion I (Second Ed., Munich,
1955) 321 f.

Tablet 135=Ep704 in Ventris and Chadwick, Documents 252 ff.; Tablet 167=
Es650 in Ventris and Chadwick, Documents 277 f.
L. R. Palmer, Mycenaeans and Minoans (Second Ed., London, 1965) 99
describes the telestai as fief-holders; J. Chadwick "Potnia," Minos V
(1957) 129 argues that they were religious officials.
M. P. Nilsson, The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek
Religion (Second Ed., Lund, 1950) 484, maintained that the king was the

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194 C. G. Thomas

high priest of the state while Mylonas, Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age,
168f. argues against this view.
For an instructive discussion of the differences between the Procession
frescoes of the mainland and that of Knossos see Lang, The Palace of
Nestor at Pylos II: The Frescoes, 57ff. Prof. Lang argues: "That the
object of the mainland processions was also a goddess [as in the Knossos
procession] is made less likely both by the complete absence of male
figures and by the uniformity among the female figures. That is, at Knossos
the goddess and her priestess stand out by virtue of sex if in no other
way. On the mainland there is no certain differentiation." 57 f. She goes on
to suggest that the Mycenaean train of thought "multiplied the goddess
[imported from Minoan Crete] into a procession of goddesses." 59.
Vermeule, Greece in the Bronze Age, 291.
Ventris and Chadwick, Documents, 126 f.
Ventris and Chadwick, Documents, 252-258 on the third set of Pylos land
tenure tablets. The words underlined are of uncertain meaning.
Ibid., 129: ki-ri-te-wi-ja "may well be religious."
Hutchinson, Prehistoric Crete, 199: "Even on the mainland we find sur
vivals from Minoan or at least pre-Hellenic religion, but in Crete these
non-Hellenic elements were much stronger and tended to survive much
longer."
Odyssey 19. 178-180 on the nine-year consultation between Zeus and Minos.
Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of the Greeks," 42.
Bruno Snell, The Discovery of the Mind (tr. T. Rosenmeyer, New York,
1960) 35f. who believes that "...the old belief is not yet long forgotten,
and the new Homeric conception of the gods is still young."
Guthrie, "The Religion and Mythology of the Greeks," 33.
Snell's view, The Discovery of the Mind, 40f. is enlightening. He writes
"Among the ladies of Mount Olympus Hera, Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite
are supreme. We might divide them into two groups: Hera and Aphrodite
representing woman in her capacity as mother and loved one; Artemis and
Athena typifying the virgin, one lonely and close to nature, the other intel
lectual and active in the community. It may fairly be said that these four
women signalize the four aspects of all womanhood. The four goddesses
help to bring out the spiritual peculiarities of the female sex; more than
that, they are instrumental in making the notion of femininity intelligible."
Ibid., 40.
On kinship attachment see M. I. Finley, The World of Odysseus (Revised
Ed., New York, 1965) Ch. 4 "Household, Kin and Community," 74-113.
"The perfect symbol, of course, was the metaphor of the king as father
(on Olympus, Zeus was called "father of the gods," which, taken literally,
he was of some but not of others). In certain of his functions — in the
assembly, for example, or in offering sacrifices to the gods — the king in
fact acted the patriarch. The Greek verb anassein, which means "to be a
lord," "to rule," is used in the poems for both the king (basileus) and
the head of an oikos with almost complete indifference. It is equally ap

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Matriarchy in Early Greece: Bronze and Dark Ages 195

plicable to the gods; Zeus, for instance, "rules (anassein) over gods and
men." 85.
M. I. Finley, "Homer and Mycenae: Property and Tenure," Historia 6
(1957) 133-159. "It is enough to indicate that there was free, untrammeled
right to dispose of all movable wealth — a right vested in a filius familias
as well as in a pater familias\ that the continuous circulation of wealth,
chiefly by gift, was one of the major topics of the society; and that the
transmission of a man's estate by inheritance, the movables and immovables
together, was taken for granted as the normal procedure upon his death."
138.

Works and Days 11.

Thomson, Studies in Ancient Greek Society, 424.
On Dark Age Kingship see C. G. Thomas, "The Roots of Homeric King
ship," Historia 15 (1966) 388 f.
Thomson, Studies in Ancient Greek Society, 420.
On the position of Nausicaa see Richard Lattimore, "Nausikaa's Suitors,"
Classical Studies Presented to Ben Edwin Perry, Illinois Studies in
Language and Literature 58 (1969) 88-102.
M. P. Nilsson, Homer and Mycenae (London, 1933) 219.
C. W. Blegen and J. B. Haley, "The Coming of the Greeks," AJA 32
(1928) 141-154.

Sterling Dow, "The Greeks in the Bronze Age," Rapports du Xle Congres
International des Sciences Historiques (Stockholm, 1960) 9: "In content
and in manner the culture of the mainland became Minoan."
G. E. Mylonas, "The Wanax of the Mycenaean State," Classical Studies
Presented to Ben Edwin Perry, Illinois Studies in Language and Literature
58 (1969) 67 f.

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